Western Expansion Project

Jeanette Cazares 7th period

Western Expansion Project

Jeanette Cazares 7th period

Manifest Destiny

Manifest destiny ment to over spread and conquere the continent. President Polk was known as the expansionist president because he always focused on expanding the nation. The innovations that helped settlers travel west was the mechanical reaper and the plow.

Territorial Aquisitions

Louisiana Purchase- Bought from France through war to double its size and had to make the Lousiana Purchase Treaty.

Florida- Bought from Spain and had to make Adamonis Treaty.

Texas Annexation- Got from Mexico due to U.S.-Mexico War.

Oregon Territory- Bought from England and made the Oregon Treaty.

Mexican Cession- Bought from Mexico through war and made the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Gadsden Purchase- It was bought from Mexico to build a railroad and then later on they made the Gadsden Treaty of 1853.

Settlers in the West

The settlers that traveled west were called 49ers. Some reasons that people traveled west were to find gold, find opportunity to own land, and have access to the fertile farmland. Some challenges some pioneers faced while traveling west were crossing landforms such as the Pacific Ocean, Rocky Mountains, and Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Oregon Trail- It led to Oregon where Missionares were looking to convert Native Americans of the area to Christians.

California Trail- It led to California so they hoped to find gold and have access to fertile land.

Mormon Trail- It led to Salt Lake City, Utah where Mormons hoped to practice the Mormon religion freely.

U.S. Mexican War

Causes of the U.S. Mexican War were the annexation of Texas, Mexico not wanting to accept the loss, and they refused to honor Texas's independence. President Polk got upset that Mexico refused to meet with him to sell California and Mexico to the US. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was the name of the treaty for the US Mexican war. Mexico had to agree on the treaty that they ceded more than half of its territory. States today that were part of the Mexican Cession were California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.

Gold Rush

Gold was found in California in 1849. California was part of the Mexican Cession territorial acquisition. The 49ers were the thousands of people that traveled to California hoping to find gold in 1849. The Gold Rush impacted the population in California by making it overflow. The Chinese immigrants who went to California looking for gold ended up building the transcontinental railroad.